LGBT in South Korea

Introduction

Homosexuality is no longer classified as “harmful and obscene” in South Korea since 2003, but the discrimination against the community remains widespread. Under the law, the discrimination of individuals on the basis of their sexual orientation is prohibited but it actually does very little protection for the members of the LGBT community. The increasing media exposure on the topic of homosexuality has opened up the culture and brought attention and awareness to gaining rights for the members, but the huge opposing conservative Christian groups still exists and fight against it. Nevertheless, the topic still mostly remains culturally taboo and most Koreans prefer to keep their sexuality private and closeted because of fear of discrimination.

History

Ancient History

King Kongmin of Koryo

Korean culture is greatly influenced by Confucianism which has influenced family systems as well as ways of thinking, philosophy and lifestyles. In Korean Confucianism, filial piety is an integrating and stabilizing influence to ensure reproduction of values across generations. Heterosexual marriage and men’s responsibility to carry on the family name is part of the filial piety. Despite the deeply embedded Confucianism ethics, homosexuality can be observed in Korea through history. In Koryo Dynasty, King Kongmin practiced homosexuality in his court and in Choson Dynasty, male homosexual practices were common in upper middle classes as well as lower classes in rural communities.

Modern History

In Korea, homosexuality has been often described as a sin or diseases. In 1980s, lots of gay men were misunderstood as having HIV or Aids and carriers of the disease. They were often viewed as people to be feared for, preying on normal people. Political conditions kept minority issues as a minor issue. It was not until the end of military authoritarian regimes in 1987 that provided an opening for gays and lesbians to work together to dispel hostile and debasing labels on the gay and lesbian population. Until the gay rights movement as political activism began in the 1990s, most Koreans were completely unaware of the existence of the gays. They remained mostly hidden and unmentioned. There has been progress towards strengthening and understanding of homosexuality. The general discrimination protection laws were put into place and made efforts to remove clauses against homosexuality. In 2003, homosexuality was officially declassified as “harmful and obscene”. But the political visibility of the gay and lesbian population in Korea still remains minimal. There still is a strong anti-homosexuality among the Korean society and Korean Christian community that are against it strongly.

Law

In 2013, a Pew Research poll indicated almost 60% of Koreans believed society shouldn’t accept homosexuality and Gallup poll in 2017 showed that 58% of Koreans opposed same-sex marriage, only 34% supported and 8% undecided. The results of the polls suggest that Korean society is still very much opposing of the homosexuality. The current president of South Korea, Moon Jae-In also has expressed his opposition to legalizing the same-sex marriage in televised debate during his presidential campaign.

Under the country’s national human rights commission act, individuals cannot be discriminated against on the basis of their sexual orientation, but no specific protection laws are in place for the LGBT community. South Korea has tried making of a broad legal framework to protect LGBT people from discrimination but still lacks provisions for enforcement and remedy. The first attempt over the issue of inclusion of sexual orientation as prohibited ground of discrimination within a proposed Anti-Discrimination law emerged in 2007. The gay and lesbian rights groups have attempted to make an influence on the law but the efforts were frequently torn apart by the opposing conservative Christian organizations and mass media. As a result, just like the rest of Asia, South Kore lacks marriage equality, and same-sex unions aren’t recognized by the government either. The same sex-couples are denied of the rights heterosexual couples have, such as medical self-determination, pensions and inheritance. With a law that is ignorant of recognizing sexual minorities, being gay or talking about homosexuality still remains culturally a taboo subject.

Communities

As internet actively spread around, online communities were created and became a popular means of gays and lesbians to gather information both easily and anonymously. Beyond exchanging of such information, it has also become tool for people to form relationship with others of a similar sexual orientation. Many LGBT activist organizations also exist through online formats such as Facebook groups and websites. The LGBT activist organization such as “Society for LGBT Human Rights of Korea” exists for the purpose of achieving equal society in where human rights of social minorities are valued. Their website has educating information about the LGBT community and have created many offline activities and festivals to support the LGBT community.

The internet has become a readily accessible means by which activists can pursue recognition, but online activism has been proven to be relativity ineffective method of generating public awareness and support for such campaigns unless it is supported by traditional media power. The constant efforts by activists to utilise the Internet to pursue their social and political aims have been frequently shut down by the media power that is largely affected by the country’s well organized conservative Christian lobby. But the importance of such online communities cannot be overlooked as it has provided a relatively safe anonymous space for the members of the community.

Media

Hong Seok Cheon

Censorship is common and problematic in Korea. The government has been known to block gay dating apps from app stores in Korea and censoring many gay-content websites through its Information and Communication Ethics Committee, part of the Ministry of information and communication.

While Korea remains deeply conservative, the media representations have expanded towards equality and openness. Hong Seok Cheon is a famous celebrity who was the first celebrity in Korea to come out in 2000. At first, he was censored from the television and could not work in the entertainment business but later became a successful restaurateur, owning many establishments. He was also back on television. Taking into the consideration of the discrimination and hate he got from the public and sacrifice he made towards his career, what he did was a very courageous and plausible thing. His action was a first step towards change in the Korean society’s media. Similar to Hong Seok Cheon, Harisu is a well-known transgender pop singer and actress. She was the first transgender entertainer in Korea that debuted in 2001. But unlike Hong Seok Cheon who came out later in his well-established acting career, Harisu started her career as an open transgender.

The growing visibility of LGBT community can be seen in other entertainment areas such as TV dramas, movies and K-pop. The first openly gay K-pop star Holland released the musicvideo “Neverland” in 2018 which includes same sex romance and kiss. In 2005, there was a record-breaking box office hit movie called “The King and the clown” which dealt with the sorrow and beauty of homosexual love. The mainstream media continues to grow to include homosexuality in their subject and gain public’s awareness and interest.

Struggles

Despite the increase of representation and awareness of the LGBT community and rapid change towards openness, the LGBT community still faces multiple struggles in the Korean society.

Seoul Queer Culture Festival

File:2015 Korea Queer Culture Festival 11.jpg

Seoul Queer Culture Festival

The first Seoul Queer Culture Festival took place in 2000 with the theme of LGBT rights. The three-day festival includes a pride parade, multiple art exhibitions and a film festival. With only having 50 people in year 2000, it has grown into a large event of having a record-breaking turnout of 85,000 attendees in 2017. But every year, the festival faces multiple struggles with protestant groups that are against the festival. In 2005, organizers of Queer Cultural Festival had to go to court to overturn a police ban. In 2018, more than 210,000 people signed a petition on the official government website of South Korea demanding that the gay pride festival to be cancelled. Every year, at the day of the event, the police has to be on site to control the protestors that rally against the parade at a nearby location.

Military

Although homosexuality is not mentioned in the Constitution or in the Civil Penal code, the same sex relations among soldiers in the military are automatically deemed as a reciprocal rape under the Article 92 of the Military Penal Code and can be punishable for up to on year in prison and dishonourable discharge.

For those who struggle with adjusting to the military in general, the military regulation is supposed to assure psychological counseling and medical treatment be available with authorization from a senior officer in charge, but this is not the case for gay military personnel. Often protection of privacy is frequently violated, outing the gay soldier without consent, telling the parents and advising to be taken to a mental hospital and further test for HIV. The gay serviceman may face harsher situations of beating and bullying inside the army base.

In the recent years, the South Korean military has been accused of exposing and targeting gay personnel by creating fake dating apps to track down gay soldiers and confiscation cell phones of suspected gay soldiers. Homophobia remains to be present and a dominant force in the military. The 2-year military service is mandatory in Korea for all the men with Korean citizenship. Regardless of one’s sexual preference, all men train in the military to serve the nation, and yet the nation and law does not have any protections for those who are gay.